Reps in Reserve
There are several ways to measure progression of exercise and intensity and these include: Reps in reserve (RIR), Rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and percentage of repetition maximum (RM).
Reps in Reserve (RIR) is the number of reps you have left in the tank after completing a set or in other words, how many more reps could you have done before reaching failure on a set.
To begin to explain and understand the RIR Principle first there are some underlying definitions that need to be understood.
Absolute VS Technical Failure:
There are two types of muscle failure: Absolute failure, which is doing as many reps as you can until you physically can't move the weight. Technical failure, which is doing as many reps as you can until you can't do another with proper form (ie: thoracolumbar back rounding during a conventional deadlift).
- The main reason people train to absolute failure is they think it will cause more muscle activation and thereby boost muscle and strength gain. This is mostly false, without getting into the minutiae, studies have shown in both trained and untrained lifters, that repeatedly training to absolute failure doesn’t help you gain any more muscle and strength than taking sets to a couple reps shy of it. In fact, training to failure too often may have a detrimental effect in relation to progress: by decreasing how much volume or intensity that can be achieved, and increasing the risk of overtraining, injury and form breakdowns.
- That said, training to absolute failure does have a few positives, and it is important to be performed for an athlete/lifter to confirm their intuition of where/if they are training to the prescribed RIR for that exercise.
1. It ensures you’re pushing yourself in your workouts
2. It helps you assess your progress.
3. It’s not equally detrimental with all exercises.
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE Scale)
Ratings of perceived exertion are a valid method of estimating the intensity of a resistance training exercise or session. Scores are given after completion of an exercise or training session for the purposes of athlete monitoring. However, a newly developed scale, based on how many repetitions are remaining at the completion of a set, may be a more precise tool. This approach adjusts loads automatically to match athlete capabilities on a set-to-set basis and may more accurately gauge intensity at near-limit loads.
Multi-joint (MJ) vs single joint (SJ) exercises:
Multi-joint exercises have traditionally been viewed as more effective than single-joint exercises for increasing maximal strength, muscle activation, metabolic stress and to more closely mimic daily tasks and sports-specific movement patterns (these include: back squat, leg press, deadlift). These are also considered as compound exercises which are multi-joint movements that work several muscles or muscle groups at one time. For example, a compound exercise is the squat exercise, which engages many muscles in the lower body and core, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, glutes, lower back, and core. Single joint exercises on the other hand have been suggested as beneficial owing to reduced technical and coordinative demands. SJ may be better suited for targeting specific muscles and correcting imbalances between muscle groups compared to multi-joint exercises (these include: flexion of the knee, extension of the knee i.e., leg extension machine, leg curl machine).
- The RIR Scale can be a more accurate method of determining near-limit loads for resistance training compared with the traditional RPE scales. There is inherent variation in human performance based of many biological and psychological factors such as sleep, nutrition and general life stress from day to day. All may affect strength during training or during testing repetition maximums (RM). Rates of progress and recovery are highly individual and methods of determining intensity such as percentage of 1RM and RM are based off previous performance that may not be representative of an athlete’s current status. This becomes especially true for novice lifters / beginner populations, where performing a 1RM is not ideal or recommended.
Guidelines to follow:
Generally speaking, when hypertrophy and strength is your main goal, you want to stay in the higher RIR range such as 0-4 RIR for most of your training time.
What does RIR (Reps in Reserve) mean? RIR means "Reps in Reserve" = how many more reps could you have done before failure (technical failure OR actually missing a lift).
In comparison to multi-joint vs single joint exercises: take multi-joint (back squat) exercises to technical failure and single joint exercises can be more appropriately taken to absolute failure.
Tempo
These are two common terms we hear in the gym all the time. Both Tempo and TUT seem to be misunderstood and thereby misapplied in the gym. Firstly, tempo and TUT are NOT the same thing and both will be defined and explained below. Neither are a “type” of training. TUT simply put is the amount of time under tension you spend during every training session, and tempo is a training variable that can be manipulated for certain benefits.
A common example that these two concepts are misunderstood is that by slowing down the eccentric or lowering phase of i.e. a bicep curl with tempo of 1131, that this will consequently increase TUT during the exercise, and therefore be superior for hypertrophy (aka growth of the muscle). This is not necessarily the case and will be explained further below.
Tempo Discussion:
Again we need to start with some explanations and definitions for clarity. In regards to tempo, the conventional way to measure is starting with the eccentric (lowering phase of the movement) OR elongation/lengthening of the agonist muscle i.e.: the muscle we are focusing on. This is followed by a subsequent stretch (end eccentric), then a concentric (shortening phase or contraction of the agonist muscle) and a subsequent squeeze (end concentric).
- Now for each muscle that contracts, there is an opposing muscle, or antagonist muscle, that also contracts, applying equal amounts of tension in opposition.
- For example: the prime movers (agonist) muscles in a bench press are the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor and anterior deltoid, whereas the triceps and serratus anterior work to stabilize the movement. The antagonist muscles are the latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids, and biceps. A tempo of 3111, for example of a bench press, in conventional terms would translate to a 3 second eccentric, 1 second stretch, 1 second concentric and 1 second squeeze.
- Now that being said, in Total Human Coaching programming, the goal is to alleviate the thought process whilst an athlete is training. The tempo is designed around which part of the movement is initiated first (i.e.: concentric or eccentric). For example: executing a repetition on bench press with tempo of 3111 would start with an eccentric (lowering phase). On the contrary, a tempo of 1221 for a DB lateral raise, would indicate that the initial movement is concentric (shortening of the lateral deltoid). Because of this, the first number in tempo will always be what movement is initiated first - so tempo can be applied to all exercise selections in a more linear fashion, whether the first movement of that exercise be concentric or eccentric.
Time Under Tension (TUT)
- Muscle hypertrophy is achieved through applying tension of an appropriate magnitude and duration to a target muscle. Magnitude dictates the adaptation that occurs i.e.: higher magnitude (loads) will elicit more strength, whereas lower magnitude will favour hypertrophy. Duration refers to dose, or ‘how much tension’ or ‘stimulus’ is being applied, i.e.: the more repetitions one can do over a period of time.
- TUT is not necessarily just slowing down your repetition’s (tempo). Looking at a bicep curl again:
1. Athlete 1 completed a bicep curl at a normal tempo: 1211, squeezing the muscle at top contraction and lowering the weight in a controlled manner.
2. Athlete 2 completes a bicep curl with a tempo 1251 so taking 5 seconds to lower the weight.
- Duration of said tension is just as important. Athlete 2 will spend a lot longer performing each rep but not necessarily achieve a better stimulus. The main reason is because Athlete 1 will achieve more repetitions. Therefore, whilst Athlete 2 may have achieved more TUT per rep, Athlete 1 will complete more reps, therefore, it could be argued that both achieved the same or similar amount of TUT.
- It is important to achieve enough stimulus to elicit a hypertrophic result, so that means that either set must be taken close to failure (RIR 0-3). So, if both Athlete 1 performed 15 curls at a normal tempo and went within 0-3 RIR, vs Athlete 2 performing 8 curls with a 5 second eccentric, also within a 0-3 RIR, they both reach a point close to failure and will elicit a similar result.
- A general rule when hypertrophy is the goal is to spend most of your time in working rep ranges of 6-20. If you slow down your tempo or speed of the movement to increase TUT but you then perform working sets at a 3-5 rep range then you are cutting you training volume down significantly which will be more conducive for strength adaptations rather than hypertrophy.
- Slowing down your tempo, especially eccentrics can cause greater muscle damage or DOMS (degree of muscle soreness). While again this can be beneficial for growth, too much of a good thing can also be detrimental if you are constantly sore, not recovering and this is then affecting future training sessions. Increasing the risk of injury and again reducing subsequent training volume will hinder growth and lead to overreaching & overtraining.
Guidelines to follow:
Tempo and TUT are not forms or styles of training. Tempo is a training variable. Slowing reps down to increase TUT does not necessarily equate to a greater stimulus as more reps can be completed at a normal rep cadence. Excessively slowing down your exercises to increase TUT may actually have detrimental effects on hypertrophy via DOMS or if volume demands are not met. Tempos main use should be the help improve technique. Improved technique using a tempo may actually increase TUT on the target muscle as you are correctly training that muscle.